Excerpt from Energy Resources and National Policy: Report of the Energy Resources Committee to the National Resources Committee; January 1939 In our industrial civilization machinery and power are key words, for the machines which characterize our society are power - driven machines. The motive force on which we have relied to turn the wheels of these machines - as well as the fuel for essential heating and for the processes of industry - has come largely from exhaustible resources. Fortunately, we have coal, oil, and natural gas in relative abundance, but this abun dance cannot last indefinitely. These resources were millions of years in the making, and every ton of coal used, every barrel of oil used, and every cubic foot of natural gas used is so much wealth drawn from nature's storehouse. Water power, fortunately, lies in a differ ent category, since to use it is to conserve it. But neither the magnitude nor the geographic pattern of our industrial life has been determined by falling waters. This report is concerned with the prudent utilization and conservation of these energy resources. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.